Display sign mounting for telescoping cart



Aug. 5, 1958 H. P. BAUMGART 2,84

DISPLAY SIGN MOUNTING FOR TELESCOPING CART Filed July 11, 1956 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 5, 1958 H. P. BAUMGART DISPLAY SIGN MOUNTING FORTELESCOPING CART Filed July 11 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 I /7 I /q,i I lJW fw ffwfg United States Patent DISPLAY SIGN MOUNTING FOR TELESCOPINGCART Herbert P. Baumgart, Maywood, Ill.

Application July 11, 1956, Serial No. 597,120

2 Claims. (Cl. 40-10) The present invention relates to grocery cartsadapted to telescope one Within the other, and more particularly to adisplay sign mounting for such a cart.

The device of the present invention is particularly well adapted for usewith the conventional telescoping carts now in use, and it may beapplied to such carts during their manufacture as original equipment, orit may later be added as auxiliary equipment to carts already in thefield. The sign mounting is retractable to permit the carts to be nestedin the conventional manner so that valuable floor space in a store canstill be conserved. In addition, when a cart is removed from nestedposition, the sign mounting is arranged to automatically pop-up into exposed position.

The pop-up feature of the sign mounting has been found to be especiallyuseful as an advertising medium. When advertising material is placed inthe display sign mounting, it is immediately brought to the attention ofthe customer who withdraws the cart from its nested position.Furthermore, the material on the sign is constantly before the customerduring an entire shopping operation. It has been found that the sales ofitems advertised in this manner have been materially increased, and evenin the case of hard-to-move items, or items with a large price markup,the sales haveincreased many fold.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a display signmounting for use in conjunction with a telescoping grocery cart of theconventional type now in use.

Another object is to provide a sign mounting for such a cart whichautomatically moves to retracted position when a pair of carts aremutually nested one within the other, and which automatically swings toan exposed position when a cart is removed from its nested position.

A further object is to provide a sign mounting having a pair ofoppositely acting spring member which normally retain the sign mountingin an upwardly exposed position on a cart.

Still another object, is to provide :a sign mounting having a rearwardlyangled upper edge portion which serves asa camming surface to facilitatethe removal of a cart with, a sign mounting from nested position.

The invention is illustrated in a preferred embodiment in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 -is a sectional view taken as indicated on line 11 of Fig. 2 of abasket of the type mounted on a telescoping cart and showing the signmounting in its upwardly exposed position; I e V Fig.2, a sectional viewtaken as indicated on line 2-2 o 'Fis hfl Fig. 3, a fragmentary sideelevational view with certain portions broken away to show the basket ofFig. 1 being nested through the rear end of a basket on a similartelescoping cart;

Fig. 4, an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken as indicated online 4-4 of Fig. 2, and showing in dotted 'ice outline the manner inwhich the sign mounting is rearwardly swung;

Fig. 5, an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken as indicated online 55 of Fig. 2, and showing the coil spring of the hinge portion ofthe sign mounting;

Fig. 6, a sectional view of a second embodiment of the sign mountingtaken as indicated on line 6--6 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 7, a sectional view taken as indicated on line 7-7 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8, a fragmentary side elevational view with certain portions brokenaway to show the basket of Fig. 7 nested within a basket of a similartelescoping cart; and

Fig. 9, an enlarged fragmentary elevational view of a portion of Fig. 6showing one pair of the spring members which normally hold the signmounting in upright exposed position.

In the embodiment illustrated, a basket generally designated 10 isprovided which is of the type now conventionally used on telescopingcarts in most supermarkets and grocery stores. The wheeled frame orcarriage has not been shown because it also is conventional and now inwidespread use. It is sufficient for the purposes of the presentinvention to note that the wheeled supporting frame and basket of thetelescoping cart are arranged so as to be mutually nestable with theframe and basket of a similar cart.

As herein shown, each basket may be mounted upon laterally spaced,upright supporting frame members 10a of the carriage (not shown). Thebaskets are preferably formed from rather heavy interwoven wire so as toprovide a pair of inwardly and forwardly tapering side walls 11 and 12and an upwardly and forwardly tapering bottom 13 which terminate at, andare secured to, a generally upstanding forward end wall 14. At the rearend of each of the nestable baskets 10 an upwardly swingable end gate 15may be provided which is conveniently hinged to an upper rear edge 16 ofthe basket 10.

Thus it can be seen that to nest one basket 10 within another, the endwall 14 and forwardly projecting nose of one basket is pushed againstthe rear end gate 15, which normally closes the rear end of a secondbasket, causing the end gate 15 to be swung upwardly to open positionand ride upon the upper edge of the first basket so as to permit thefirst basket to become fully nested longitudinally into the secondbasket, as best shown in Figs. 3 and 8.

In the embodiment disclosed in Figs. 1-5, a display sign mounting,generally designated 17, is mounted on the inside of the end wall 14 atthe forward end of the basket 10. The sign mounting is preferablyprovided with a pair of side flanges or grooves 18, closed at theirlower end, into which removable advertising display cards may beinserted. It is, of course, contemplated that such flanges or other wellknown holding means may be provided on either or both sides of the signmounting 17. In addition, the sign mounting 17 may he formed of a transparent material, such as clear plastic, and be shaped with a. hollowinterior so that the advertising display card may be positioned withinthe interior of the mounting.

The sign mounting, 17 is preferably hinged to the basket 10 so that itmay be swung from upwardly exposed position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2,rearwardly to a retracted position'within the basket 10. To this end, aflat mounting plate 20 may be provided having elongated slots 21 througheach of. which a securing means, such as nut and bolt 22, may beprovided to secure the mounting plate 20 to the end wall 14 of thebasket 10. The sign mounting 17 is preferably swingably mounted on theupper end of the mounting plate 20 by a pair of journal rods 23 and 24which extend transversely of the basket 10 through cooperating aperturedears 25 and 26 of the mounting plate and sign mounting 17, respectively.

The ears and 26 may be formed in separate bracket members 27 and 28,respectively, which are preferably spot welded to the sign mounting 17and to the mounting plate 20.

The sign mounting 17 is preferably normally urged toward upright exposedposition, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and to this end it may be providedwith a pair of spring members and 31 which embrace the journal rods 23and 24 and are torsioned so as normally to urge the sign mountingclockwise, as shown in Fig. 1.

In the embodiment of Fig. 1, the journal rods 23 and 24 are showndisposed beneath the top edge of the end wall 14 so that the signmounting in moving to exposed position is arrested by striking the topedge of the end wall 14 as at 32. Any other convenient form of stopmember may be utilized for this purpose. If desired, a strip of rubber33, or other flexible materiahmay be arranged to cover the joint betweenthe sign mounting 17 and the mounting plate 20 to protect against achilds finger being caught between the two members. Notched portions 19and 29 may also be provided in this embodiment to remove unprotected,open hinged portions.

In operation, when it is desired to nest a first cart within a secondcart, as shown in Fig. 3, the nose of the first cart is brought to bearagainst the end gate 15 of the second basket 10, and as the first basketis slid longitudinally into the second basket the end gate 15 is pivotedupwardly to permit nesting of the baskets. As the first basket isadvanced into the second basket, the forward side of the sign mounting17 is brought to bear against rear portions of the second basket causingthe sign mounting to pivot downwardly to retracted positionsubstantially in the plane of the upper edge of the first basket. Asherein shown in Fig. 3, the sign mounting bears against the rear upperedge of the second basket, but it is understood that a handle 39 mayproject rearwardly in certain constructions and initially contact thesign mounting 17.

' Preferably, as the first basket is further nested into the secondbasket (Fig. 8), the sign mounting 17 passes beyond the rear upward edgeof the second basket and is held in retracted position by the upwardlyswung end gate 15 which is being urged downwardly by gravity. Iudiciouschoice as to the length of sign mounting 17, the weight'of end gate 15and the strength of spring members 30 and 31 assure that the signmounting will be maintained in retracted position. The upward swingingof end gate 15 may also be limited by a stop member (not shown), ifdesired, which in turn will assure that the sign mounting 17 will bemaintained in retracted position when the baskets 10 are nested.

When it is desired to use the first cart again, the first basket is slidrearwardly out .of nested position and, as the free end of the signmounting 17 clears the rear portions of the second basket, the springmembers 30 and 31 move the sign mounting 17 clockwise, as shown in Fig.3. Thus the sign mounting 17 is quickly swung to its exposed positionextending upwardly from the basket 10 so that the customers attention isimmediately directed to the material displayed thereon.

It should be noted that the free end of the sign mounting preferably hasa rearwardly angled portion 34 so that, when the basketis'being'withdrawn from nested position, the top face of the angledportion functions as a camming surface and prevents the sign mountingfrom being caught either on the end gate 15 or on the rear upperportions of the basket .10.

A second embodiment of the invention is disclosed in Figs. 6-9, and thisembodiment operates generally in the same manner as the first embodimentwhen the carts are moved into nested relationship. However, in this formof the invention, the sign mounting 17 is provided with a pair ofbearing surfaces 35 and 36, preferably tubular, which embrace the topred 37 of the end wall 14. Again, the sign mounting 17 is normally urgedto upright exposed position, as shown in Fig. 7, but the sign mountingis permitted to freely swing forwardly and rearwardly of the plane ofthe end wall 14. The sign mounting 17 is preferably retained inequilibrium in its exposed position by two pairs of opposed springs 38and 40 and 41 and 42 which preferably embrace the top rod 37 of the endwall 14 and act in opposed relation, as shown in Fig. 9, to balance thesign mounting 17 in its exposed position.

Although other types and arrangements of springs may be used, as hereinbest shown in Fig. 9 springs 38 and 40 are oppositely torsioned and havespring ends 38a and 40a anchored to the basket while the free ends 38band 40b of the springs are disposed on opposite sides of the signmounting 17 and exert substantially equal forces in opposed directionsto hold the sign in equilibrium in its upright position. Although notshown in detail, springs 41 and 42 may be similarly arranged.

It is, of course, apparent that the sign mounting may be used for otherpurposes than the display of advertising material. For example, it maybe used to mount an index of items for sale in the particular store, orpart of its surface may be used to display a pictorial plan view showingthe locations of general types of items in that store.

The foregoing detailed description is given for clearness ofunderstanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understoodtherefrom, for some modifications will be obvious to those skilled inthe art.

I claim:

1. In a telescoping grocery cart of the type having a forwardlyprojecting basket adapted to nest through the rear end of a secondbasket mounted on a similar grocery cart, said second basket having anend gate normally closing said rear end and being swingable fromclosed'position upwardly to open position by the basket being nested, adisplay sign mounting hingedly secured to the forward end portion of thebasket for swinging movementbetween an upright exposed position and aretracted position, said sign mounting being normally urged toward saidupright exposed position and being swung toward retracted positionbeneath said end gate on the second basket by relative movement of saidbaskets toward nesting relation so that the sign mounting is inretracted position and the end gate is in open position when the basketsare fully nested, said sign mounting being of such length relative tothe end gate that the end gate overlaps the sign mounting to retain saidsign mounting in retracted position when the baskets are nested.

2. A device as specified in claim 1 in which the sign mounting has anouter free end which is angled downwardly when in retracted position toprovide a camming surface bearing against the end gate of the secondbasket to facilitate movement of the baskets out of nested relation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,652,842 Tanner Dec. 13, 192.7 2,435,873 Crary Feb. 10, 1948 2,659,486Krupin Nov. 17, 1953 2,723,474 Minter Nov. 15, 1955

